HNC Advanced Imaging
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Advanced imaging techniques for head and neck cancer to stratify risk of early treatment failure.
IRAS ID
293226
Contact name
Karen A Eley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust & University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Up to 50% of patients with advanced-stage Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) show treatment failure in the form of cancer recurrence; currently only 5% of these patients survive 5 years or more. Around 30% of patients treated primarily with radiotherapy experience treatment failure. Imaging methods that permit early prediction of treatment efficacy would have profound patient benefit by permitting early amendment of treatment strategy helping to reduce treatment related morbidity whilst improving survival. The imaging techniques in this study have been selected as those offering the most potential, without the need for ionising radiation.
Patients highlighted the significant side effects of radiotherapy for HNC and the psychological impact of not knowing if this treatment is working or going to work. Being able to predict treatment response is a high patient priority in view of the significant morbidity associated with HNC treatment. Patients also highlight that current MRI examinations are very long, and that the claustrophobic environment makes this very challenging. More rapid imaging techniques are therefore required, with Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) demonstrating the greatest long-term potential impact.
This study will explore a number of MRI based advanced imaging techniques to determine what imaging features can be used to predict risk of cancer recurrence. In the future, this information would enable patients to receive personalised treatment based upon their individual risk of cancer recurrence.REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
23/WA/0043
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion